Pastor beats up church members

[eagleswings]

Pastor beats up church members

By SIBONGILE SUKATI on February 11,2010

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, 34-year-old Dan Dlamini still has visible scars on the head (circled) after the beating by the pastor.

LUNDZI A pastor at Revival Life Ministry heavily assaulted two church members after he caught them drinking alcohol during his church service.

The incident happened at around 7pm during a two week revival held at an area called Eluhlandlweni near the Lundzi Border Post.

As a result of the beating, one of the church goers Dan Dlamini claims to be partially deaf on his left ear. Dlamini said pastor Sam Dlamini, who is a junior pastor at the church, found him and his friend Musa Ndwandwe carrying a two litre bottle of dry white wine known as Capenheimer.

Dlamini said the pastor first took the bottle of wine from them and walked outside the tent where the revivals were held and emptied its contents.

Dlamini said the pastor used a knobkerrie and he beat both him and Ndwandwe on the head several times. Ndwandwe was reported to be away at work during the Times visit to the area.

Ndwandwe, it is alleged, lost consciousness for about 30 minutes whilst Dlamini said he lost consciousness for almost five minutes.

Both suffered injuries to the head, but they allege that although police and an ambulance were called none of them turned up. A church member Nomsa Sibandze who witnessed the incident said church members were shocked by the incident.

We never thought a man of God would do this to us especially since we did not provoke him, said Dlamini. He admits that they were wrong in bringing alcohol to the church, but said they were not regular church attendants of the Revival Life Ministry.

We were tempted to go inside the tent as we heard the sound of musical instruments and we were drawn by the music, said Dlamini a self employed logger.

Dlamini said their intention was not to drink inside the church, but only took out the bottle to put it safely as it was too big to hide inside their jackets.

Normal church services are usually held at a homestead which is a few metres from where the tent had been erected.

Dlamini said he was further shocked by the pastors reaction as he was junior in the church.

This should have annoyed Pastor Bandzile Tsabedze who is the senior pastor not Sam, he said. Dlamini (34) during the interview kept on referring to his alleged assailant as lomfana (the boy) because he said that he was younger than him. Dlamini who was in the company of his son and mother during the interview said he now needed money to go to the hospital for tests.

I need to conduct an x-ray to see if I did not sustain any head injuries and the deafness to my left ear is worrying me, he said.

Dlamini alleged that his assailant Pastor Sam and Pastor Tsabedze on separate occasions had come to his homestead to apologise for the incident and had promised to return today as he had informed him that he needed financial assistance

...it was not my intention to harm them, says pastor

LUNDZI Pastor Sam Dlamini has said the incident is best forgot-ten as it was in the past and he has since made peace with his victims.

Dlamini a junior pastor at Revival Life Ministry said he was also upset by what had happened and it was not his intention to harm the church goers. I have already gone to their homesteads and one of them even telephoned me informing me that we needed to speak again because he was in pain due to the injuries he had sustained, he said.

As a church we have also discussed this matter and this would just bring back old wounds which we should not focus on, he said.

He refused to comment on whether his behaviour had been wrong given his position in society and referred questions to Bandzile Tsabedze the head pastor.

When the Times team visited the homestead where Dlamini resides he was said to have visited relatives in Motshane and could also go to South Africa.

Senior Pastor of the Church Bandzile Tsabedze when reached for comment told this reporter that he was driving and therefore could not talk. He asked to be contacted after five minutes and this was at around 3.30pm.

However, after that conversation Tsabedzes phone remained off until 6:30pm when the last call was made. Tsabedze according to one of the church members also ministers in South Africa and when he is away Dlamini is left in charge.

Conference of churches calls for respect, discipline

MBABANE Bishop Steven Masilela said individual churches had different ways of disciplining pastors found to be in the wrong.

Masilela who is chairman of the Conference of Swaziland Churches said he could not however judge whether Pastor Sam Dlaminis actions were justified because he had not heard of the incident.

I am sure if the incident occurred as you are relating it to me there was some action taken against the pastor, said Masilela. He said the Board of the Revival Life Ministry were the only ones at this point who could take action.

He said although the council does not condone beatings if they occur he appeals to church goers to respect Gods house.

I know revivals create some form of excitement, but these are not different from a normal church service and therefore we do not expect people to behave in a manner that disrespects the church, he said. They should not undo the good we are trying to do, he said.

Masilela said Gods house should be respected and bringing alcohol into a church was not responsible behaviour.

He however, urged churches that had experienced similar problems to report them to the Council of Churches in order to form a policy.

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[Believer1997]

Well, I just don't think this is what is meant by 'laying on of hands'....

[MorningGlory]

Wow, tough church.

[Blien]

More training required...

[Matthitjah]

Nothing like a punch to the head to bring you back to your senses.

I believe that I've been punched in my head a couple of times in my life, just the Lord trying to get my attention.

[~Shalhevet~]

I guess I'll start drinking my beer outside from now on.

[sunnier]

Betcha they won't be bringing liquor inside that church again! As for the rest of the congregation I think they've all been warned.

[Guest Butero]

That is absolutely appauling behavior on the part of the Pastor. I agree that those people shouldn't have been drinking, but his behavior was worse than those he was angered at. I think this is a good candidate for anger management classes.

[Believer1997]

This just sounds like a frustrated man who isn't getting through to his flock. He needs prayer. Jesus even got angry with the money-changers at the temple... He certainly didn't need anger management.

[~candice~]

This just sounds like a frustrated man who isn't getting through to his flock. He needs prayer. Jesus even got angry with the money-changers at the temple... He certainly didn't need anger management.

Did Jesus physically harm anyone?